Cynthia Nixon, speaking during an event at the Bronx, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s team was distracting from real issues and again promised to release tax information related to herself and the foundation “this week.” | Getty

Cuomo allies push Nixon on taxes, Molinaro releases 2017 return

ALBANY — Gubernatorial candidates clashed Thursday over their tax returns, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo reiterated his call for his primary opponent, actor Cynthia Nixon, to release the extension request she filed last month with the IRS.

Cuomo’s aides and allies also seized on a POLITICO report about a family foundation set up by Nixon and her wife, Christine Marinoni, that distributed $54,000 to progressive groups that are now backing her campaign.

Story Continued Below

Nixon, speaking during an event at the Bronx, said Cuomo’s team was distracting from real issues and again promised to release tax information — she filed for an extension this year — related to herself and the foundation “this week.”

“If somebody thinks that donating to community groups that fight for communities of color and immigrants is corruption then they are obviously not paying attention to New York politics,” Nixon said.

Lis Smith, a consultant to Cuomo 2018, asked on Twitter, “what is tricky @CynthiaNixon hiding?” John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union and a close ally of the governor, issued a statement about “Foundationgate from another rich politician named Nixon.”

“The more we learn about Cynthia Nixon, the more it becomes clearer that she is just a rich, Prosecco-sipping Manhattanite masquerading as a progressive,” he stated. The Cuomo argument is that the donations set the stage for support that is now undergirding Nixon’s campaign.

Nixon’s team says Cuomo’s charge is grossly disingenuous, noting his $30 million campaign war chest was largely culled from people and entities with interests before the state, some of whom have received state grants or contracts.

“If his threats to community organizing weren’t so serious, it would be comical that the king of pay-to-play politics is trying to throw mud at us just because he lost our endorsement,” said Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action, which has endorsed Nixon. An affiliated group received at least $31,000 from Nixon in the last five years.

"Just remember, the charitable donations that Cuomo’s team is using to attack Cynthia on is still less than the cost of one ticket for one person to one Cuomo fundraiser," said Nixon senior campaign adviser Rebecca Katz.

While there is no law requiring political candidates to release their tax returns, many do so as a demonstration of transparency. Candidates are required to file financial disclosures with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics after their nominations are finalized.

Speaking to reporters after an event in Rochester, Cuomo said that governors from both parties have upheld the practice for more than 20 years in the name of “basic transparency.” The governor released his tax returns on April 17.

“It’s not pleasant because people understand they get intimate details about your life. But you want to be in public office, they have a right to know who you are, who pays you, where you get your money from, if you’re asking for their vote and their support,” the governor said. “My personal advice is, if you’re unwilling to release your taxes it probably means you have something to hide and this is the wrong business to get into if you have something to hide.”

On Thursday, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate, allowed reporters to inspect his 2017 state and federal returns, which showed details on income and taxes stretching to 2013.

Molinaro and his wife, Corinne Adams, reported $174,048 of income in 2017, mostly from Molinaro’s salary as Dutchess County executive. The total includes $3,173 representing imputed income from Molinaro’s personal use of a county vehicle and $26,469 from Adams’ job at Tinkelman Brothers Development Company.

The couple paid $22,539 in federal taxes and $9,231 in state taxes. They paid $9,262 in property taxes on their house in Red Hook, which they recently purchased with around $7,000 in proceeds from a retirement account.

Molinaro and Adams own another house in the Dutchess County town, which was previously Molinaro’s, that they rent out. The $27,000 in rent was almost enough to cover the $8,696 in taxes and $19,139 in mortgage interest for the property.

The couple donated no money to charity, but gave $4,100 worth of “furniture, clothing and household items” to the Young Mission Outreach in Poughkeepsie. They took a $1,000 deduction related to the donations, the returns show.

A Cuomo campaign spokeswoman, Abbey Fashouer, challenged Molinaro to release 10 years of tax returns to show details of his outside income when he was a member of the state Assembly.

Molinaro’s campaign issued a statement challenging Cuomo to back up claims that he splits expenses — including the property tax bill — on the Westchester County home he shares with his romantic companion, Sandra Lee.

Cuomo aides have said since 2010 that he shares household expenses with Lee, including the property tax bill — something the governor noted during a speech last month about the new federal tax law.

In 2010, when he first ran for governor, Cuomo did not release his tax returns until after election day. He did share his request for an extension with reporters prior to the election. He has released his tax returns every year he has been governor.